The Underwater Barrier of Bocagrande

In 1640 some Portuguese ships ran aground in a bank of sand formed at the entrance to Bocagrande, completely obstructing access to the bay at that point and forming an isthmus that connected the island of Tierrabomba with the peninsula. A century later, the channel began to widen because of the effect of the tides, as well as by work carried out to permit the passage of small boats, threatening to again change the point of entry to the bay, thereby rendering unserviceable the fortresses built in the Bocachica channel.

Ignacio Sala in 1750 and Lorenzo Solís in 1754 tried to close the opening without success, paralyzing the work in 1757. Two years later the engineer Artonio de Arévalo was charged with closing the Bocagrande entrance, and he began the work on November 11, 1771. Seven years later, in 1778, the construction of a barrier was completed, composed of three rows of large baskets that formed a bed of sand on top of which stone was placed which impeded the passage of ships.

Even today the barrier of Bocagrande has resisted the movements of the sea and it has kept the major access to Cartagena Bay closed since the end of the XVIII century.